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Youth Hit Hard By Obamacare Law

In 2008, the under thirty crowd overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama and in 2012 they doubled down on their allegiance to him, with over 60% of young voters choosing the incumbent president. While their reasons are as diverse as I suspect their MP3 collections are, one of the key factors repeated was the promise of health insurance for all. And with the added promise of premium assistance, many believed that their options would now once again be better because of the newly implemented Affordable Health Care Act. And why wouldn't they believe these "truths", the government's own health care website states:

If you're age 18-25, you may not be thinking about health insurance. You may think you're healthy and don't have to worry about it. Or the cost might be keeping you from getting coverage. But what if you get into an accident of have a serious illness? Your medical bills could put you in debt of ruin your credit and you many not be able to afford the health care you need to recover fully. The Affordable Care Act is expanding your options for health insurance and making them more affordable.

Really? Expanding your options and making them more affordable? A new study released today shows exactly the opposite effect on premiums even with premium assistance.

Actuaries at management consulting firm Oliver Wyman predicted the laws age rating restrictions could mean a 42 percent hike in premium costs for people aged 21-29 when they buy individual coverage.

But President Obama repeatedly promised that we'd see a $2500 reduction in the cost of health insurance premiums per family, per year, and even "bring down the costs for the entire country." And while this specific portion of the study focuses on individual premiums, the ACA is proving to increase the premiums for the majority of Americans as well. The study goes on to say that the increase in youth premiums will also destabilize the market due to the fact that many younger people will not be able to afford the higher rates and therefore will simply choose to opt out of coverage.

The promise from Obama and the democrats that rammed through Obamacare (ACA) was that it was going to provide health insurance for everyone and at a lower cost. Those of us who understand economics (or reality in general) knew that this would not be the case. The sad fact is that while Obamacare *may* provide coverage for everyone - health insurance does not equal access to health care. Doctors still won't work for free, insurance companies are not non-profit, and if they offer coverage at all, very few will be able to afford the options given.

Maybe, just maybe in 2014 and beyond the youth of America will choose freedom over free stuff. All these government promises just don't seem to be working out in their favor, do they?

The opening paragraphs in the cited study state that they are assuming a 20% incres in average premiums after ACA exchanges go onle, They give no justification for that assumption, which is not plausible. It's hard to give the study any credibility, but at least they do make their assumptions explicit.

Professional licensure is a too-often ignored way for government to protect private monopolies, squash, competition, keep prices high, and reduce consumer choice. I’ve written extensively about the issue before, because the practice of licensure can be very harmful to honest citizens seeking to better themselves through gainful employment, and like all government regulations, it hits the poorest and least educated citizens hardest.

Enrollees in several states face a severe lack of options in physician networks for plans offered on the ObamaCare exchanges, according to a brief released on Monday by the Leonard David Institute of Health Economics and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Limited physician networks is a part of the health insurance industry's effort to mitigate mandates in the so-called Affordable Care Act that have increased costs.

Health insurance companies are seeking large premium increases for many health plans available on the ObamaCare exchanges. The proposed increases vary by state, but the average ranges from 23 percent in Illinois to 36 percent in Tennessee to 54 percent in Minnesota.

As ObamaCare continues to increase health care costs and wreak havoc upon the infrastructure of our health care system, physicians are at the front lines watching the damage first-hand. It is more important than ever that medical professionals who recognize the damage that government control is doing to their profession speak up and be among the loudest voices calling for reforms that re-center the practice of medicine where it belongs – at the relationship between individual doctors and patients.

When the so-called "public option" single-payer healthcare program was scrapped during the legislative "debate" over ObamaCare in 2009, lawmakers working on the bill created the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan Program as a compromise. The non-profit co-op program is meant to compete with private, for-profit health insurance plans in the individual and small group markets. The 2010 healthcare law provided $3.4 billion in start-up funding to help get the program off the ground.

Sometimes a man’s just got to take a stand. Rand Paul did it his 13-hour filibuster on drone strikes, Ted Cruz did it in his 21-hour floor speech to defund ObamaCare, and now Mike Lee is invoking an obscure Senate procedure rule to completely repeal everyone’s least favorite health care law.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Thursday showing that undercover consumers were allowed to re-enroll in health plans on the federal ObamaCare Exchange. The bogus enrollees had outstanding document issues that should have prevented them from obtaining subsidies for coverage.

More Americans paid ObamaCare's individual mandate tax for 2014 than previously estimated, according to a new report from the Internal Revenue Service's National Taxpayer Advocate. In January, the Treasury Department projected that up to 6 million households would be subject to the tax because they did not purchase a government-approved health insurance plan.